NASA Finds a Face-Less Mars by Davy Russell
POSTED: 7 April 98
Early Sunday morning, the
Mars Global Surveyor photographed the famous Cydonian region of Mars, and beamed
back to Earth an interesting discovery. The "Martian Face" is gone. The exact area
where the face was photographed back in 1976 by the Viking showed nothing unusual,
only an obvious natural formation. The only difference in the conditions on Mars was
the sun was shining from the southeast, instead of west as it did in '76. The Surveyors image
of the Mars Face on 6 April 1998, does not look anything like the Viking's photograph of
the Face 22 years before.
The controversial Cydonian Face became the focus of many UFO believers as they speculated
the giant rock structure was carved by intelligent beings. They also claimed that an
ancient city of extraterrestrials once lived there and was either gone or in hiding.
Conspiracy theorists went as far as to say that NASA sabotaged its own billion-dollar
Observer mission in 1993 to prevent the publics further discovery of Martian civilization.
Despite NASA's explanation for it's Sojourner and Pathfinder not landing near the Face in
1997, conspiracy buffs held to their government-suppression claims.
Scientists working on the mission found this notion ridiculous. And now, it may appear
that it is. One theory regarding the dissappearance of the Mars Face is that the quality of the image was (unintentionally) degraded from being enhanced and that the photo should not be considered conclusive evidence of
intelligent life on Mars.
Global Surveyor scientists say the Cydonian region is in transition from a cratered area to
a flatter plain. Perhaps NASA was right all along, the Cydonian face is nothing but a
trick of light and shadow on a natural formation on the planets surface.
Conclusion
The recent Mars Face discovery backs up what I have been saying for a while.
People are so eager to believe in extraterrestrial life that they will jump on anything,
however inconclusive it may be, and accept it as fact. Anything which contradicts what
they believe is a negative force, a conspiracy from those they do not trust or understand
such as the military, NASA, and the government.
The Earth holds many face-like structures as well, including the "Old Man of the
Mountain" profile in New Hampshire. We see where nature repeats itself, and all that is
created (or evolved) is a pattern, and it is not unlikely that such patters would be reflected
in outerspace.
ORIGINAL MARS FACE CAPTION RELEASED W/ IMAGE IN
1976
NASA's Viking 1 Orbiter spacecraft photographed this region in the northern latitudes
of
Mars on July 25, 1976 while searching for a landing site for the Viking 2 Lander. The
speckled appearance of the image is due to missing data called bit errors, caused by
problems in transmission of the photographic data from Mars to Earth. Bit errors
comprise
part of one of the 'eyes' and 'nostrils' on the eroded rock that resembles a human face
near the
center of the image. Shadows in the rock formation give the illusion of a nose and
mouth.
Planetary geologists attribute the origin of the formation to purely natural processes.
The
feature is 1.5 kilometers (one mile) across, with the sun angle at approximately 20
degrees.
The picture was taken from a range of 1,873 kilometers (1,162 miles).
More Cydonia Images
(Click to view full size)
This is the alleged Martian Face which was first photographed by the Viking 1 in 1976.
This is the Cydonian region of Mars as photographed by the Viking 1 in 1976.
This is the rock structure which appeared to be a human-like face in 1976, but the Surveyor photographed it on April 6, 1998 as a natural looking geological structure.
SOURCE: CNN, Burlington Free Press, various other resources regarding the Cydonian Face on Mars.
"Photos Courtesy Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Copyright (c) California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. All rights reserved."
